The tape inside the box was apparently erased, and none of the alleged songs is audible.

"Paul McCartney has done everything within his power to keep this out of print," Zimet told this column.
"Since it would be hideously embarrassing to him that the Beatles tried to get back together and failed. . . .
They ended up fighting, they walked out of the studios."

Zimet identified the owner of the tape as Arizona resident Keith Chrismon. "I'm a collector, I've been in
the entertainment business and I acquired this roughly six weeks ago," Chrismon said, though he refused to
name the seller. "I purchased it from a former employee of Apple (Records, the Beatle-owned label) from way,
way back. The only reason he knew of the tape was because of working in a minor capacity with Apple. He's
not a big shot  he was just a young performer and actor. (He) got scared into burying it. . . . He refused to
make the tape public basically out of fear of Paul McCartney.

"Apparently it was a bad way to end things," Chrismon explained. "There were a lot of rumors that they
had gotten back together, but no one could prove it. Now I've got the proof. There were five songs put on the
tape. Five songs  four were new and one was a remake. The remake was 'Little Girl.'"

Chrismon supplied a tantalizing May 1997 e-mail, apparently from Davlen founder Len Kovner, to a
Beatles researcher in Scotland: "Someone you know must have seen the 3M tape box with the Davlen Sound
Studios logo and song list. It is rather difficult to talk about, as this is one of the most obscure events in the
Beatles' history. . . . As I was the engineer, along with other noted L.A. engineers, I still work with the remaining
lads. If you would like to phone me . . . I can shed some additional light and stories about these historical and
failed events."

The hip hop/fashion impresario was practically spitting with rage Monday when he called to complain
about an item in another newspaper's gossip column that says his wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, "comes off a
mite materialistic" in the January Harper's Bazaar.

Bazaar documents the eye-popping facets of her larger-than-life lifestyle  including a
49,000-square-foot, 20-bathroom mansion in Saddle River, N.J., a 25-carat diamond ring, a fleet of luxury cars,
five maids, four assistants, two live-in nannies, a chef and two drivers.

"Every other week it's the same thing, and I'm upset about it and she's upset about it," Simmons told me,
adding that he has no problem with the Harper's Bazaar spread. "Does anyone care about Donatella
Versace's extravagance or Karl Lagerfeld's? This is all because Kimora is an African-American Asian woman.
It's as if they think she's undeserving."

Kimora Lee, designer of the Baby Phat apparel line among other business and philanthropic pursuits,
drafted an aggrieved letter to her tormentors: "It is obvious the writers of the New York Post really don't quite
know me, my husband, or family . . .

"I'm not defined by the materialistic things that were listed in the article. I do possess them but they do
not possess me. My focus is on my children, my family, my career, and my community. Extravagance is in the
eye of the beholder."

She added that their daughters, 3 and 1/2-year-old Ming Lee and 1 and 1/2-year-old Aoki Lee
Simmons, "are being exposed to educational experiences of which neither Russell nor I could have ever
dreamed. They are learning French and Italian, they take yoga, swimming, ballet, piano, and gymnastics. But
most of all, as a mother, I am teaching them to respect the oneness of humanity and to never look down on
someone who is less privileged or fortunate.

"The truth is the more I give, the more I receive. In fact, we give to more than 70 different charities."

The author of the offending column told me: "Kimora Lee Simmons is great. If she wasn't already here,
we'd have to invent her."

THE BRIEFING

WOULD IT HAVE KILLED HER TO SAY 'GET WELL SOON'?: "Dear Siegfried and Roy," pop star Pink
wrote to Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn in a letter ginned up by People for the Ethical Treatment for
Animals. "I was very sad to learn that Gildah, the 55-year-old elephant used in your show, has been penned up
at the Mirage since the show closed after October's tiger attack. I'm urging all my fans and fellow PETA
members to join me in asking you to release her to a sanctuary. . . . 'Peace on Earth' doesn't seem very viable
in much of the world this year, but won't you grant it to one pathetic old lonely elephant on the Vegas strip?"
Pink goes on in the manner, and never once wishes Horn a speedy recovery from his almost-fatal tiger-inflicted
injuries.

NO GEST ROOM: Liza Minnelli's estranged hubby, David Gest, who is looking for a television venue to
tell his story of pain and suffering, offered himself recently to "60 Minutes" correspondent Christiane Amanpour
after being impressed by her segment on children with cerebral palsy. I'm told that Gest's divorce lawyer, Raoul
Felder, made the pitch via e-mail. Amanpour's response: a giggle and a polite no-thanks.

12/12/03: Karenna defends her dad; now she tells us!; say it ain't so, Mo!; more12/10/03: Man & wife, interruptus; pepperoni has feelings, too; more 12/05/03: The knives are out; Who's sorry now?; JWR in the news12/04/03: The war of the gest-minnellis; something borrowed, something cashmere; fashion trendsetter, nailed!12/03/03: Colombian grace under pressure; Lord of the Screwups; more12/02/03: Curb your anti-Semitism?; fame fatigue?; bowing to pressure?; more12/01/03: Dennis the Menace strikes again; first literary feud of the holiday season; Norma Jean & Hef in heaven?; the fog of McNamara; more11/26/03: Catherine Crier raps Jacko's TV defender, refuses on-air hint of racism; At 50, Tina's in full cry; STAY OUT OF HER WAY!; more11/25/03: The mogul strikes back?; go ahead, make Harvey's day; more11/24/03: Georgette's pilfered baubles; prosecutor of pop?; absent but not missed?; Norman Mailer's prescription for education reform; more11/20/03: Is a movie career in store for Maria Bartiromo?; People for the Unethical Treatment of Humans?; more11/19/03: Scientologists on Razor's edge?; picking a winner?; source on a hot tin roof?; more11/18/03: Clay Aiken neuters PETA?; THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS!; a mural for Joe11/17/03: When networks attack!; leaky Fawcett; forget the Paris Hilton video!; more11/13/03: Publicity hounds; Prophetic priest; Dumb and Dumber11/12/03: Not so Rosie; do you believe in miracles?; catalogue of sins; My Heart Belongs to Koppel11/10/03: Gen. clark on the Subway diet; life of the party; MTV's Dumb and Dumber?; the hug issue; but does the $6,000 shower curtain convey?; red faces at Buckingham palace?11/06/03: Let them eat pita?; verbal jousting; pretenders to the throne?11/05/03: Will Harvey Weinstein and Gregg Easterbrook now be pals?; crazed Quentin; more11/04/03: Herding off the hipsters; more11/03/03: Dean's tell-all on himself?; Lisaraye vs. Mya?; the odd couple; no need to panic; just don't call him "Scooter"!; Rosie scenarios10/30/03: Autumn of the editor?; Cynthia Nixon's split may be costly; 'Burning' questions10/29/03: Ah-nold, unauthorized!; a dilemma for Melissa Gilbert? not even Frank Gifford can help him now!; nobody wanted Elizabeth Hurley10/28/03: It's Cher calling!; Brown Alert10/27/03: Paparazzi uncensored!; where's Aaron Brown?; postcards from the middle; invasion of the party snatchers?; House flooded when not afire?; suspenders of disbelief?10/23/03: Ace up Howard Dean's sleeve; Woody's ordeal; Paul Simon's kid makes good; the non-beginning of a beautiful friendship?10/22/03: Showing the flag; Joe Frazier, smokin'!; see Carville bruised-up  sort of10/21/03: Morris & Jaci's charm offensive; Hell hath no fury; Wintertime for Hitler10/20/03: Isn't it rich?; men (and the occasional woman) behaving badly; peacenik John Lennon supporting the U.S. military?; courageous Connie10/16/03: George Clooney and intolerable Drudgery; Cameron goes native; and you thought the war in Iraq was nasty?; now it can be revealed; star wars?10/15/03: Kerik into the breach?; holiday pander?; "the Dink" corrects the record; more10/14/03: Madge gets mad, lips are sealed; the candidates who listen; he who hesitates is Beatty10/13/03: Clothes, but no cigar; New Yorkers put a Sox in it; mad at Matalin?; more10/09/03: Gray Davis goes to the movies; Ali Wentworth, working blue; Law & Order?; pot of gold at the end of the rainbow room?10/08/03: Art-time for Hitler; the actress who hates movies; lying "Liam"10/07/03: Pond scum of the rich and famous07/24/03: Ali and George, living it up; Mel Gibson's Washington power play07/21/03: White House smear?07/17/03: Yet another intern scandal; it's her party and she can pay if she wants to07/14/03: On the auction block: JFK'S boxer shorts; love bytes the maestro07/10/03: A hairy situation at Homeland Security; Van Susteren v. Orth06/30/03: Rep. Patrick Kennedy: I've never worked a (bleeping) day in my life; Drudge's dressing down; Ken Lay's Kerry connection06/26/03: Rapping the beat06/23/03: Another Watergate scandal?; AL GORE TV!06/19/03: Tony Snow, rocker?; that won't be crow on Mr. Carlson's plate06/16/03: Missing dog, ransom demand, Hollywood ending06/12/03: Giving both parties the needle06/09/03: WHAT DID SHE KNOW, AND WHEN DID SHE KNOW IT?06/05/03: Incoming from Barbara Bush?06/02/03: Bob Dole's plan for fighting unemployment05/29/03: Newt's new novel05/27/03: Hitchens & Blumenthal, together again; He still believes in a man called Hope05/09/03: Close, but no cigar; Romeo & Juliet with a happy ending?; Geraldo to help Heebs?05/05/03: So Bill Gates and Tom Brokaw walk into a coffee bar . . .; hotel hell; more